WASHINGTON, D.C.–U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (AZ-08) introduced the Eradicate Crossing of Illegal Tunnels (EXIT) Act to expedite the approval process to fill cross border tunnels by removing the unnecessary red tape currently preventing our U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents from addressing these vulnerabilities at our southern border.

“Criminal cartels have utilized underground tunnels to illegally smuggle migrants and drugs across our southern border,” said Congresswoman Lesko. “This is contributing to the unprecedented crisis at our southern border. I am pleased to introduce this legislation to remove bureaucratic red tape and allow our CBP agents to fill these tunnels quickly to stop the record-breaking flow of illegal immigrants and deadly drugs across our southern border.”

This legislation amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify that CBP has the authority to search for and remediate all unlawful cross-border tunnels while patrolling the border. This bill allows the Department of Homeland Security to waive federal, state, or local environmental permits and reviews as necessary to search for or remediate unlawful border crossing tunnels.

Lesko was joined by Representatives Brian Babin (R-TX-36), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06), and Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-02) in introducing this legislation.

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